Not what you see
by yume girl 91
Summary: Rukia has always had the ability to see 'things' beyond the normal sight. Little did she know the dangers it entailed when she crossed paths with the Angel of death. AU UlquiRuki
1. Savior

*Not what you see*

Rain spattered the sidewalk beneath the hurried heels of the girl. Umbrellas held by passersby crowded the narrow space beside the intersection; droplets drenched her hair as the covering shelter of round tops skirted her like the plague. _It was always like this_.

Morosely, she stared ahead, violet-blue irises watching vehicles turning. Children and their laughing faces staring out the rain-slicked windows, pointing to the people waiting their turn to cross. Some looked her way, openly gaping at her slender form clad in Karakura high's mandatory uniform. The girl's hand tightened on the navy strap of her bag. _Why did they stare_?

The people began walking across, each in their own mind silently desirous of evading proximity to the teenager, if asked for the reason...they wouldn't know themselves. The girl took one step forward, the street corner empty as the crosswalk flashed across the way, the people in suits nearly clear of the street.

Someone reached out at her next step, her left foot dangling above the running gutter. "Wait," spoke a coolly, sensuous male voice from behind her. Rukia, for that was the girl's name, hesitated. Her head turning a fraction to meet the cold green-eyed stare of a man dressed in a black suit much the same as the ones whom had just passed her. He indicated with an almost imperceptible flicker of coal-black lashes lowering, toward the street.

Rukia heard the irritated HONK, seconds before a small hatch-back cut across the path of a tow truck. Brakes squealed, tires spun, screams erupted...but it was too late. The morning traffic jam had turned deadly as the crossing pedestrians hadn't had the time to escape the path of the truck and its long racked bed. She realized then..._if that man hadn't pulled her back_...

Pivoting around to call her thanks, she simply saw his back as he strode away.

She started to go after him, then, stopped.

Her eyes widened.

The man's silhouette stood out against the side of the building, huge despite his somewhat diminutive size. But that wasn't what chilled her. No.

It was the large wings that sprouted up from his shadow.

~~~To be continued-?~~~

A/N: don't own Bleach. :D how did you like it? AU of course...Butterfly, I'd meant to update today but didn't, soon maybe. :D please review and let me know if I should keep it!


	2. Open your eyes

~Not what you see~

_Wings…was he an Angel_?

~*~

The incident from days before didn't recede from her mind the way others had. At school, the talk of the students, sometimes laughing, others wearing a smile to hide the cruelty spoken so carelessly flowed around her. Rukia tilted the textbook higher, her hand lax over a sheet of paper off to the side. The perfect cover; the Teacher never suspected she was doing anything than what it looked.

_Black hair_. She attempted to recall every feature of his face. _Green eyes_. The softened scratching of pens on paper faded away. _His voice_. He had saved her. If she had taken another step…

Rukia Kuchiki wouldn't be here now.

She sighed. _Would her brother miss her? Would anybody?_

~*~

Watching from the rooftop high above the school grounds, her hair became windblown, her fingers maintained a slight hold on the loose purple straps of the insulated lunch bag. Below, girls sauntered in short gray skirts and tight sweaters much to the amusement of the boys. Their laughter carried warmth and felt almost welcoming but she knew it wasn't for her.

"I don't understand this…foolishness." The voice was cool and carried an undercurrent of disgust. Rukia's head turned a quarter of the way. The same man from before stood scowling a few feet away. His gaze was absorbed by the gathering of chattering students milling in the grounds below, one, a preppy orange-haired girl by the name of Orihime Inoue got up, leaving the throng and trotted back up toward the main building. Admiring looks followed her.

"Disgusting." He muttered.

Rukia parted her lips to speak then hesitated, moments passed. His scowl darkened. "It…it's a human thing. I don't suppose you'd understand." She felt him glance askance to her, a look filled with many things, many secrets. Emboldened she went on more quietly, "humans. Humanity. Some _thing_ like you couldn't possibly understand us."

"So you know?" he mused thoughtfully. She didn't answer. His hand dropped smoothly to his side and then back up again, a slender scrap of worn parchment held between two elegant white fingers. Something was written—or being written in curving red letters on it. She wanted to see but refused to show any inclination of curiosity. From the corner of her eye, she saw a faint smile spread over his face at the finishing. Unaccountably she was chilled.

"Orihime. Inoue. I see." The paper was crumpled in his hand. Rukia had the sense that something had transpired with this simple act but it wasn't until the girl whose name had been inscribed on the slip of paper went back to her friends that it happened. Her body hit the ground, her last breath silent as a choked cry escaping into the moist autumn air.

"Wha—what did you do to her?!" Rukia couldn't keep the accusation from her voice. The man surveyed the rampant confusion and mildly turned from the rails, releasing his clenched fist. Ashen pieces fluttered away in the breeze. She stared after the remains, comprehension close. "Just what the hell are you?" she whispered, her eyes never leaving his pale, expressionless face.

"Death."

It was quiet. Only the howl of the wind and scraping of rusted leaves across the empty rooftop reached her ears. He was gone.

~*~

Preview of next Chapter: World so cold

_I am death_.

"This girl…must die. It is decreed by the highest Angel in existence yet why…" Tosen breathed dangerously, the broad dark hands that held the judgment scythe clenched, spasms of anger tightening the Angel's face, does she still have life?!"I…

"Ulquiorra…" Grimmjow looked up from the ancient book of souls; sweat beading on his upper lip. "That girl…she's…"

…_will bring destruction to the world._

~To be continued~

AN: a lot of things will happen and the main plot will be laid out. I doubt you can guess who says: _I will bring destruction to this world?_ ;) Thanks for reading—no flames—but please review! :D

I promise it will get better! :P there will be some GrimmRuki too. ;)


	3. This dark day

~Not what you see ~

"Brother…" the backpack slipped from her fingers to the tiled entryway floor with a soft thump. "I'm home." Her words were quiet, a disturbance in the near absolute silence of the penthouse. Another would have thought they were alone; she bent and exchanged her shoes for plain white slippers, glancing up to the hallway beyond and door slightly ajar. The muted sounds of someone typing escaped the confines. Rukia quietly hefted her bag and dispiritedly walked to the door.

"Rukia."

So he had heard her. "Byakuya," she said, pushing the door open wider. Byakuya Kuchiki, a man of handsome, fine features, of cool slate gray eyes fringed by long raven lashes, inclined his head toward his younger sister, regarding her with an inscrutable expression. "Come." His hand withdrew from the folds of the blanket spread on his lap; Rukia went to him, dropping on one knee.

"How was your day…brother?"

~*~

_An accident_, they had said.

_Such a shame that a promising young man had been deprived of the use of his limbs_, they lamented.

Tongues were quiet, only glances spoke their distrust of the boy's sister kneeling beside the wheelchair bound boy, his hand resting comfortingly on the top of her head.

_Her_, they said. _She had done it._

~*~

Rukia now rose from that same position, her eyes lowered. _Curse_. Byakuya went through the same motions as each day. _How was school_? Fine. _Did she speak with anybody today_? Yes, she was able to say. He looked a little surprised but pleased. Rukia wasn't so sure how it would go over with him if the truth were told.

Death. Her expression darkened and lest he notice, she turned away, pacing to the wall of books arranged on rich cherry wood shelves. Absently her hand ran over the firm, aged spines of leather and faded gilt titles; she could feel his gaze on her. Perhaps worried at her sudden silence.

Her eye alighted on one aged tome at the far end of the row, sticking out a quarter of the way. Compulsively neat, she reached out to push in back into place. _Angelus_. It leapt out at her. Instead of pushing it in, she slipped it out, turning around, "Byakuya, is—"

The phone rang. At once he became absorbed in a heated argument with whoever was on the other line. Forgotten, Rukia looked down at the battered book in her hand. _Is this a new addition_? Sighing, she went out unnoticed.

~*~

_Angelus. It means Angels, right_? Rukia sat on the edge of her bed, studying the plain worn fabric cover once again. _No author_, she checked the flyleaf. Only a second line beneath the title page bore the inscription: _compendium of ancient things_.

She flipped through the first few pages. Noting nothing of interest above an old water stain blotting a character that could have been a word written in ink, she soon set it aside. Her thoughts began to wander; _that man_. She laid her hand against her forehead. _He_…she couldn't deny it. _He was beautiful_. Rukia frowned when her own voice broke the quiet.

She hadn't meant to speak aloud.

Something stirred. Her head turned slowly, her hair rustling against the bedspread. Her eyes widened. Pages were being rifled, flipping as if turned by one searching for something. Rukia sat up, watching warily as the book shuddered, a thin-yellowed page hesitating before falling back down, open to a part that even from a slight distance, she could see writing spread across.

Still wary, she extended her hand and lifted the book to her.

_The Angel of death_…

She read on.

…_appointed to bring an end to the lives of humans_.

A sound like a muffled cry echoed from beyond her closed door. Rukia started and ran to the door, "brother?" she called, her finger stuck in place between the crackly pages.

_His name is…Ulquiorra_.

Two figures were silhouetted in shadow. One was her brother, lying on the floor, a dagger inches away from his convulsing hand. The other surveyed his struggles piteously, "you should know by now that there is no escaping death." The man's voice was cold. Rukia saw the shadow extend his clenched fist. It was the same…she knew what would happen next.

"Stop it!!!!"

~*~

He hesitated. Turning eyes devoid of feeling toward the source of interruption, _it was her_. She stood breathless in the doorway, trembling from fear or something else, _he didn't know_. Her gaze went from the body of the condemned one lying at his feet to his face half-hidden in shadow.

"Ru—Rukia…"

Ulquiorra felt the thread binding the man's soul to the world still anchored if only briefly by his sheer will. "Brother!" she gasped, starting forward to fall at the man's side. _Brother_? He recalled the name written in the book of souls. _Byakuya Kuchiki_. And on the remains of the scrap of paper still held tightly in his fist. Once he let go…

Unmindful of him, with a single-mindedness of humans that he had always found pathetic, she held onto her brother, at turns gasping out pleas to unintelligible words, her voice thick. Finally when her cries seemed to have no effect, her large violet-blue eyes glistening with tears looked up at him. "Please…please…stop this. He…he's all I have!" He saw her whitened lips tremble, her eyes beseeching, begging for anything but this.

_He had seen others plead, not to him of course because they couldn't see him; only those whose time had come could. Cursing God when the breath left the bodies of tiny infants or loved ones drew their last. Those cries for mercy had never affected him_…Ulquiorra extended his free hand, cupping one side of her face. She was visibly startled. He bent low, "if I could…what would you give me in return?"

She hadn't expected that. Hope had stolen silently into her countenance then drained away with the onset of fear. "What…what could I offer you?" her hesitation was almost endearing. Ulquiorra observed her look of near defiance at war with the opposite emotion of surrender.

_Angels were forbidden the touch of mortal flesh_.

He tilted her chin up, impressing a light, chaste kiss to her lips.

~*~

Rukia closed her eyes. His lips were as cold as a body whose life was stolen by death. _Like a corpse's_. She tried not to shudder with this thought, sustaining herself with the slight grasp Byakuya kept on her hand. She sensed the man, though perhaps hesitant, back away.

"It shall be done."

She heard the soft whisper brush her cheek and her eyes flew open.

He was gone. Only she and Byakuya were left in the echoing, empty penthouse.

~*~

The hallway was silent, the ceilings lofty and magnificent glowed with the sheen of age, the ancient alabaster Library seemed more of a palace than the great archive hall. Here, Ulquiorra entered, descending from the row of mullioned windows thrown open to catch the sunlight. he touched down and briefly surveyed the emptiness of the place. Once he had satisfied his judgment that no one was around, he purposely strode toward a door with an elegant curved brass handle.

It yielded easily to his light pressure and opened inward. Walls upon walls of bookshelves met his gaze. Tomes of the same aged bound-leather filled them, he stepped to one shelf after another scan and immediately picked the centermost one from the third shelf. It was a book of souls one of many registering every human life that were to end. Beneath the previous name of the one whom he had guided on, was that of the girl's brother: Byakuya Kuchiki.

_'He's all I have...'_

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed. _How had this weakness come to be_? _She was just a lowly human girl_. Try as he might he could not rid his mind of her tear-streaked face and wide frightened eyes_...all I have_.

He felt another sigh escape his slightly parted lips and disturb the absolute silence of the room. To influence the course of the human lifespan was considered a great taboo to commit by even one such as him. _If known, the Angel of judgment would not look favorably upon this course he had chosen_. He laid a finger down on the spidery writing, feeling the tingle of his power coalesce with that contained in the Dragon's blood ink. _More. Just a little more_. He sensed the resistance like a shield above the name. The fine lines across the page began to waver, trembling beneath the onslaught of foreign energy. _Nearly there_.

He glimpsed the name in red ink fade and then brighten with visible effort.

Then suddenly a voice broke through his concentration, "what the fuck are you doing here, Ulquiorra?!" the tone was challenging, irate and belonged to a tall man dressed much like the humans of whose records of lifespans he was a guardian of; blue jeans and a partially unbuttoned plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was a definite contrast to the other Angel in black.

"I have the right to enter this place, Grimmjow. In case you have forgotten." Ulquiorra answered. _The name had not erased_ a_s he had wished_.

Glaring suspiciously, the one called--Grimmjow, advanced further into the room, leaving the side door he had entered by, open. In his arms were a veritable load of officious scrolls and ledgers. One in particular slipped out from the bottom and skidded across the floor to rest near Ulquiorra's feet.

"Damn fucker," the Librarian snarled, setting the rest down on a worktable near the shelves. Unconcerned, Ulquiorra watched the other approach and bend slightly to swipe the errant book from the veined white marble floor. Grimmjow straightened, still scowling, "Kojiki, eh?" he turned it over in his hands. "The record of ancient things," Ulquiorra said; he had heard of it residing in the trial room of Heaven's court, however had never seen it.

"What record of ancient things?!" Grimmjow scoffed, halfway turning as he unclasped the book to find the heavy cream-colored pages blank. Ulquiorra observed him bemused, "you lack the permission required to _read it_. Only those of _high-rank_ can see the binding seal impressed into its very spine."

"You lookin' for a fight?" teal eyes flashed up in irritation, believing as per his temperament was concerned that anything the one before him said could be construed as possible insults regarding the rank of Death being higher than a scribe keeper. Ulquiorra knew this and kept silent, keeping the book of souls closely tilted upward as if studying it and only pausing in this perusal to speak with the keeper.

Grimmjow tched and tossed the book aside angrily. "I haven't the time to deal with this shit, nor _you_. Finish up what you're doin' and clear outta here. I'm busy!"

Ulquiorra said nothing, easily placing his back to the other to face the shelves. Grimmjow did the same, bustling about, muttering under his breath imprecations whenever a particularly stubborn scroll fell from its allotted place. In this way some minutes passed with neither of them saying a word to one another.

Because of the quiet that surrounded them, the soft hiss and appearance of a new name in the open book of souls, elicited a comment from Grimmjow. "Another one?" since he was working on the next case over, he glanced from the frozen expression on Ulquiorra's face to the name written in curving script in light blue.

"Rukia. Kuchiki. Hm...sounds familiar."

"What...do you mean?" Ulquiorra strove to keep the uncalled for emotion from entering his voice and thought he had managed passably well for simple curiosity. "Just that. I've seen it from time to time, you know," Grimmjow waved a meaty hand in the general direction of the pending deaths and averted deaths section on a deep shelf across the room. "Rukia Kuchiki, the same. I'd never have noticed seeing it just once or twice but after three or four times--I can recall it. Hey! You know that must be a popular name down there--eh? Ulquiorra?"

"Grimmjow...did another human's name appear after the one called _'Rukia Kuchiki'_ vanish?"

A hand ran through a crown of thick teal hair, eyes blinked and then his brow rose, "now that you mention it...I think so. Yeah...it was the first one recorded in the record spanning back seventeen years." Excitement rising, Grimmjow withdrew a key from a set in his pocket and rifled through a cabinet set chest-high in a far bookshelf. "I remember only 'cause that stupid bastard Tosen made me stay longer to finish the entry," the Librarian muttered. Finally with a triumphant _ah-hah, _brought forth a small square book which he immediately unclasped and opened onto the first page.

"For January 4th: Hisana...Kuchiki."

Silence descended upon the room until Grimmjow broke it again, "coincidence, right...?"

Ulquiorra couldn't speak, his eyes drifted slowly down to the page and the name of the girl that had appeared the moment her brother's had been erased:

_Rukia Kuchiki. Time of death 12:55 pm_.

She was to die tomorrow.

~To be continued~

AN: For the life of me, I couldn't remember Rukia's actual birth date. I think it said in one of the books but it's been a long time. Oh well. I know I said CH.3 would be (World so cold) but since it was getting long already I've left out the next part where she almost dies. :P I said 'almost' ;P anyway, thanks for reading-no flames or idiotic spammers--but reviews are appreciated! :)


	4. World so cold

*Not what you see*

12:36 PM

The sky was ashen. Tinted a foul gray indicative of coming rain. Rukia stared out over the expanse of the school grounds widely devoid of the usual crowds. Most were inside the Cafeteria partaking of a late lunch. _Not she_. The talk of the day was filled with speculations about Orihime Inoue's death. Some were wilder than others but none came even close to the truth. _The Angel of death had descended to carry the pretty princess away_. Rukia wrapped her arms tighter around her midriff. _Byakuya...her brother as well_.

_"If I could...what would you give me in return_?"

She trembled. _His lips had touched hers...was she contaminated now? Or did it not matter... if no one cared. Why should it matter if--_

The creak and hushed giggle at the door to the stairwell, broke her reverie. Rukia turned to confront the sight of three of Inoue's friends, tasteful dashes of black adorning their short skirts and gray jackets. The boldest of the group, an auburn-haired pink-cheeked girl with glasses approached her while the others hung back. Chizuru--something or other. Rukia couldn't remember the last name.

"How come you're out here all alone?"

The distant crackle of thunder rumbled above. One of the girls squeaked nervously and then burst out in giggles to prove her bravado. Ill-intent radiated from Chizuru's aura, her slow smirk evidenced by it when Rukia didn't answer.

"I get it. You think you're above us, is that it?"

She didn't back up at the closing distance between them, only stared at her blankly.

_Why were they doing this_?

Emboldened by her target's immobility, Chizuru instantly deduced that the other was sufficiently frightened. Slowly she motioned to the waiting girls, hesitantly they advanced, ringing Rukia in the center.

_What did I ever do to them_?

They were closing in on her.

Though she didn't want to, she found her feet moving back. She was being intimidated and she knew it. Angrily her fists clenched at her sides but somehow...she just couldn't strike back. _Something wouldn't let her_. The clank of metal sounded harsh to her ears, the girls started then laughed in her face.

"Lookit the little witch--" they started chanting.

She knew where she was. At a line of the rails, recently bent outward from some late night prank. Her head turned, the sight of darkened horizon meeting her violet eyes; the ground so far below. _No. Please_. Gravity urged her downward. From it seemed a far way off, she felt Chizuru's hand against her chest, ever so lightly she pushed.

"Oops. Watch out there--"

She heard the smile in the girl's voice.

"--it's quite a tumble from here."

She fell.

In unison the two cackled in malicious mirth at their leader's wit.

Her eyes were filled with the sight of their laughing faces.

That was the last thing she was going to see.

Them and their hatred of her.

Why?

_She was going to die because of them. Byakuya-nii-san would be left alone. _

_**Why?**_

_What had she ever done to them?_

_To __**anybody**__._

It wasn't fair. Rukia closed her eyes, cold air freezing her tears into crystalline drops.

_This shouldn't _**be**.

Black flowed within the fringes of her consciousness, but she never felt the arms enveloping her, his voice a low whisper that vanished in the screech of the whipping wind that smothered her."You're safe."

_'Curse on the Kuchiki family.'_

_'There's something about that child that just...'_

_'Stay away from her.'_

_'...killed her mother.'_

_'Deserves to die.'_

_No._

_**They**__ all__**should**_...

She screamed against the voices in her head.

**Die**.

~*~

12:55 PM

Ulquiorra caught her heavily in his arms.

"That man...how?!" The stunned voices of the human trash above, reached him.

_Something was wrong_. He brushed the sensation aside, quietly whispering to the girl in soothing tones. "You're safe." He had said it to reassure her but felt something inside himself loosen up._ Emotion_._ Relief_. Her eyes were closed, he wanted her to open them.

_Rukia_. He couldn't speak.

Lightning crashed in scattered arcs, rain began falling.

He looked up.

The open-mouthed screams of the human girls were silent, the building caving inward.

He looked down into her tear-streaked face, eyes screwed shut in a torturous agony that he couldn't understand. _Rukia...was she_...

She was screaming.

_...causing this?_

And then he was falling.

Black rain poured from the sky to the earth like a lamentation for the dead.

He felt a dulling pain consume half his body in a fiery ache. _Almost like a burn_...?

"Die." He heard her voice soft beneath the pelting droplets.

She was smiling.

He saw nothing more.

~*~

"Where is it...?" the teal-haired Angel muttered to himself distractedly. Unbound scrolls and open books lay scattered beneath his heavy work boots. His eyes darted around. _The Kojiki_. _Where was it?!_ He had gone through almost the entire contents of the books of the souls. Learning nothing more than what Ulquiorra already knew.

_If the human Rukia Kuchiki was meant to die another would always take her place_.

_At her birth, her mother Hisana_.

_At five years old, her father in a plane crash. It was believed he had changed seats with his young daughter before their flight had taken off._

_At ten years, her brother was disabled in a freak accident_.

_At fifteen years, her high-school teacher Kaien Shiba. Again a strange accident. _

_And now at seventeen. People waiting at a crosswalk, only one was meant to die._

_She was held back._

_They went in her stead_.

_A classmate. Ulquiorra was there, he had unconsciously chosen._

_Her brother._

_Ulquiorra had erased the man's name only to have it replaced with that of the girl's._

_Rukia Kuchiki._

But why her? Why did it seem as though calamity befell anyone who crossed her path? The teal-haired Angel couldn't figure it out. Scowling, he ran his hands through his thick hair, glancing to and fro, his eyes darting from the mess filling the room and--

There.

A slim leather bound book lay still clasped on the great oaken table.

Grimmjow crossed the room in three strides, swiping the book up from the rest.

It wasn't what he had been looking for. Growling in frustration he began to toss it aside when words caught his eye. It was an old picture book from the human's world. _But_... he studied the cover, _he was sure it was...but it couldn't be_. _The Kojiki wouldn't be--couldn't be this--_

_~*~_

...and she wept tears of acid in remorse for what she had done.

He read the last sentence on the page, his sense of unease growing.

_Just a book. It was just some stupid book a fruit like Ayasegawa had passed through the system. Yeah_...he inhaled sharply. _Had to be_.

Something fell behind him.

The teal-haired Angel jumped violently, cursing loudly.

_A book of souls_...? Upside down, he recognized the look of one and the rest of it...brittle pages ravaged by time met his curious eyes. _This was...the first_.

_What it said..._

His eyes widened.

_Impossible._

_It couldn't be--it just couldn't_--

He inhaled sharply._ Ulquiorra_.

_Damn you_...Grimmjow flew out the door, wings unfolding from his back.

By the time he reached the level of earth...

He gritted his teeth knowing it might already be too late.

_Just let her die._

~To be continued~

AN: what did Grimm-kun read to get him so worked up?

;) Thanks for reading.

No flames, stupid comments or idiotic spammers!

Please review. :)


	5. Harbinger

The halls were lofty, echoing as the two angels darted through one of the massive archways that made up one wall. Outside, the air was fresher, purer, with a sweetness that Rukia had never known before. Ulquiorra set her down brusquely, averting his pale face away from her, looking to the other- Grimmjow, instead.

"How long?"

"Give or take forty human minutes."

Ulquiorra nodded vaguely, his wings twitching spasmically. "That should be enough time." With that enigmatic sentence, he strode off toward a far door set the opposite wall. Grimmjow ran a hand through his teal locks, breaking off suddenly with a sputter, "what the-hey! Go where!"

When no answer came and the black-winged back of the Angel of death had vanished inside; Grimmjow let out a noise of harsh frustration, finally jerking his head in her general direction.

"C'mon, girl!"

Together, they both crossed the wide hall and entered into a palatial library of wall to wall shelves filled with ancient books. The air was redolent with the scent of aged tomes and cracked leather. It was just the sort of place, Rukia knew Byakuya-nii sama would enjoy. She turned in a complete circle, taking in the library and its ornate elegance. From the gilt sculpt on the ceiling to the finely carved heads of lions on the few chairs in deeply warm cherry wood...

"What in Seraphim's name are you doing-!" Grimmjow's loud voice cut through her thoughts momentarily. Rukia turned slowly toward the set of shelves, the dark-haired angel knelt at. He rose with perfunctory grace, in his hands was a slender book covered in light brown leather. Flakes of the spine crumpled away at her touch when he handed it to her.

"Kuchiki Rukia, in this book is recorded a number of angelic spells written in the Enochian tongue. Guard it, do not let it fall into the wrong hands."

Her head was spinning, "but, what-"

"Yeah! What the hell do you think you are doing?" Ignored, Grimmjow now stamped his booted foot, sending a shockwave rippling up into the wall. Flakes of gilt paint fluttered down. Ulquiorra's brilliant green eyes narrowed on the other's face, "quiet yourself, Grimmjow. The leader of the Powers will be here in less than thirty human minutes to arrest you and I for breaking Angelic law. I would suggest you immediately begin preparing the senkai-"

"And go where!" Grimmjow fairly screeched. Ulquiorra lifted a pale hand and wiped away the dot of spittle from his paper-white cheek, "Gehenna first. It is a wasteland with few Demons to trouble us and from there we can make our way to the level of the Meido where Urahara is-"

"What? No! Not that perverted jackass-"

"Shut up, fool." Green eyes narrowed into slits, as though physically pained from the giant teal-haired angel's shouts. Rukia eyed the two and backed away slowly, clutching the book. Grimmjow let out another roar of fury and clawed the air unimpressively, clearly wishing to strangle the other. Rukia wondered at the maturity of them both and decided it had gone along far enough, snatching up the nearest tome, she threw it awkwardly between them - to her surprise, the awry hit struck Grimmjow's handsome tanned face dead center.

Pages ruffled as the book fell to the floor with an audible thud, disbelief etched into the angel's face changed abruptly to fury. "You little human bit-" he started toward her, folded wings bristling, but at the last second a pale hand restrained him.

"Leave it, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra advised softly, the other shrugged away from him, seeming affronted he'd been touched by death. Large plaid-covered shoulders twitched, a glower sent to Ulquiorra who stared back impassively. She could've sworn the impassiveness faded when green eyes glanced to her, an almost quirk like amusement flickering through the poison green.

"Prepare the Senkaimon." Ulquiorra commanded tonelessly, the moment gone. Grimmjow muttered imprecations under his breath but tramped off into a deeper part of the curved room. Unable to keep her eyes from wandering around, she shifted awkwardly in the silence that descended, wincing once when a crash of - presumably a book case - came with even louder curses. Ulquiorra closed his eyes, a subtle sigh reaching her hearing.

"So...where are we?" automatically her mind made the adjustment. Not she, but he and that other raucous individual. His eyes opened, flickering to her. "Third layer of what you humans know of as Heaven."

She nodded though half not believing it. _Weren't only humans allowed to enter it after they were dead! Did that mean she was dead?_ With that thought, she pinched herself on the left palm, hiding the action beneath the book. It hurt. She blinked, looking to him for confirmation. "So, I'm not dead right?"

He was silent for a time, gazing back at her.

Her eye twitched. _Didn't he speak more than ten words at a time?_ "Answer me!" she barked, "am I dead or-"

"No." The angel of death regarded her dispassionately. "You are not." Then a shallower sigh. "Please refrain from yelling. It is...as uncouth as Grimmjow's."

This time, she tried to heave a small statue from a table nearby. Which she lifted with some success. It sailed past his head, a fraction of an inch too wild, Rukia breathed hard, daring him to yell at her.

"Your aim is terrible as well." He remarked.

She let out a frustrated noise just as another crash came. _Easy Rukia_...her inner voice murmured, _this guy's supposed to be death incarnate_. She glowered at her inner voice. I _know! I know! But he's so irritating!_ Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she tried to lessen the testiness from her voice. "So this is Heaven, then. And you're the angel of death."

He eyed her - not warily - but not as impassively before. She had the strangest feeling he'd been impressed somehow by the statue-throwing. "A part of Heaven and correct."

"What about your friend?" she jabbed rudely to the numerous curses that streamed in many foul tongues growing louder as Grimmjow plowed through the library.

Ulquiorra gave her a flat stare. "That cretin is not my friend. He is a subordinate of the sixth rank. I am the superior of the fourth rank in the hierarchy of the nine Angelic Divisions."

"Which means?" she knew she was being rude.

"He is commanded to do as I say unless another higher in rank tells him otherwise."

Oh.

Her violet eyes widened in understanding.

_Oh_. So that was blue-haired's problem.

She couldn't suppress her grin well, somehow it was altogether amusing. She turned about, trying to disguise it. They both clearly despised each other yet one was all blazing guns and the other a damp blanket with his apathetic disinterest. "Why do you ...smile?" A rustle and step behind her. Ulquiorra's low melodic voice sounded close above her.

"It's a-" a soft weight fell over her shoulders, the light pressure of hands rested for a second longer on her shoulders before lifting. Surprised, she glanced down to see a light sapphire blue cloak draped over her. She turned fully around to face him only to see his back turn in slow retreat.

"It gets cold in Gehenna." He said by way of quiet explanation. Rukia shifted her arms, sliding the book beneath one, while the other drew the velvety folds closer to her school uniform. A little unsure, she hastened to follow, stepping around the table to curiously look up at him, "Gehenna...is that Hell? I mean...I know it from theology." Her face screwed up as she tried to recall anything relevant from her brother's library. Truth be told, Byakuya had become a near atheist, claiming the Gods had abandoned them. Another thing came to her.

"Hey, if this is Heaven, why's it so quiet?" now she scowled.

He looked away from her, green eyes lowering. "You ask too many questions. The human souls are kept...below. On the eighth plain."

"Oh, so no heavenly harps singing." She commented sarcastically, not liking the word 'kept'. Vague enlightenment dawned in his expression. "No. That's a human's conception of our world. There are nine levels of reality as there are nine angelic Divisions. Below the last layer, the field of Mathey, the Hell plain begins and yes..Gehenna is home to-"

"-man-eating demons that just love to rape little schoolgirls like you!" Grimmjow interrupted rudely, sending her a leer. Rukia glared back, noting with satisfaction how rumpled and dusty the crown of teal locks appeared, even more smears stained his human-like workshirt.

"Senkai ready." He boomed, grinning widely. Ulquiorra ignored her glare, dusting nonexistent lint from his black suit. "Then let us depart." He strode past the other with a sort of casual grace she admired. Grimmjow did the finger at the angel's back and she stifled her sigh on his maturity.

Wending their way through the interspersed tables and piles of books littering the corners, another thought came to her. "Hey, why are you doing this?"

Grimmjow stopped making rude signs at the other's back, pausing as Ulquiorra did.

"'Cause you're not very cute-"

"_Grimmjow_." Again the closed eyes, a hint of irritation added on.

The teal-haired angel smirked but fell silent.

She waited, even feeling the distant tremor in the building, a heightened sense of danger urging her onward though stubbornly she delayed, refusing to move until an answer was forthcoming. Any answer truly to explain the two angels, her purpose for being there - and everything she had searched for her entire life.

Ulquiorra's green eyes softened slightly when they met hers. "In our records kept by this _cretin_-" Grimmjow scowled, crossing meaty arms over his barrel chest. "There is a prophesy of a soul being born into the human's world. Maligned. Estranged by all...she does not belong."

Her heart began racing uncomfortably as visions of the past flittered ghost-like through her memory.

"The humans know it...and ..." he hesitated, something catching his gaze, eyes tilting askance to the wall. With an abrupt motion, he urged her on. They continued through the vast library, more of which she saw revealed in quick glances, her ears straining to hear Ulquiorra's soft words.

"...she is a harbinger of destruction."

Rukia felt something cold seep into her soul.

At a far wall, a warped panel gave way to a rough edge door, blackness emanated from it. Ulquiorra approached it swiftly, his cursory inspection revealing displeasure when he turned back to them. "As careless as usual." He murmured, eyes narrowing. Grimmjow sucked his canines and stepped to the side, "yeah...bitch about it, ya bitch! If ya wanted it perfect then why not conform it yourself!" He glowered at everything, stamping his boots irritably on the polished floors. "..can't believe I got dragged into this crap...with this bitch..."

That, Ulquiorra turned his back on, locking eyes with her.

"What about my brother?" she hesitated, her chest tightening with some feeling she couldn't describe the longer she stared into his vivid green orbs. Everything about death was monochrome from the perfect sharp tips of his black hair, to his pale skin and plain undertaker's suit. Only his eyes were bright, glassy despite their beautiful color. Instinctively, Rukia knew it wasn't fear that made her stomach clench.

"Tosen will have stationed guards around Kuchiki Byakuya. Nothing will befall him."

She nodded hesitantly, recalling the fury of the purple-clad angel. "But...I still don't understand...how do I fit into all this?" her voice rose slightly echoing in the confines of the book-filled room. "Why are angels after _me_?"

Grimmjow turned at that, fixating his sardonic teal gaze on her with an unpleasant sneer.

"Don't ya get it, girl? You're the harbinger of destruction!"

"What...?" Her mind refused to register those words, refused to see herself as anything but sixteen year old Rukia Kuchiki. Ulquiorra sighed, affixing a withering glance in the teal-haired angel's direction. "Savior as well."

"But..."

"Let me put it to ya plain. You're the reincarnation a million times over of the original sinner, Pandora! The first woman in creation! You opened the box! You released suffering on mankind!"

She started back from the accusations. "N-No! I'm not-"

The teal-haired angel swaggered forward, shrugging off Ulquiorra's bracing hand.

"What? The little bitch doesn't need to be coddled-"

Her fists gripped. "No, I don't!" she shrieked, tired of being talked over like she wasn't standing there listening to them, her head still spun from the revelations imparted to her but her ire hadn't dampened. Grimmjow lost his smirk momentarily then nodded appreciatively, "little bitch got some fire to her...I'm surprised."

"Grimmjow, _language_." Ulquiorra said flatly, shoving away the offensive grimy body leering over his shoulder. The angel of death twitched his coal black wings in disgust, mouth slipping into a frown as he refocused back on her. "You're the enemy of the world, Kuchiki Rukia. Feared beyond the Devil Aizen."

Her lips trembled, she felt the building quake beneath her feet, the dissonance stinging her to the bone. Something was coming - someone - when she glanced up and met those irradiant green orbs, Ulquiorra motioned her subtly forward.

She hesitated, the world still wasn't quite on its axis. There were many unanswered questions remaining - one surfacing out of the turmoil in her mind as most important other than her reasons for being. Rukia took a shallow breath in, feeling her lungs expand painfully beneath her ribs. "Why...are you helping me?"

Grimmjow's eyebrows flew high up into his hairline; Ulquiorra seemed to hesitate an eternity, which in reality was perhaps only a minute of complete silence before the doors further back to the Library burst open, many clanks sounding as swords - she imagined - were drawn from leather scabbards.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer! Grimmjow Jeagerjaques! You're under arrest for-"

Something flickered through his green eyes, without further warning, a ball of spherical irradiant green light formed at the tips of his fingers. Grimmjow started to curse, "no, what the fu-"

She didn't understand until he had hauled her close, yanking her tight to his chest, unleashing the energy that made her nerve endings tingle, her skin prickle from the electric charge in the air.

"My library! Damn you, Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow wailed with the flare of explosive light, fists flailing. Her vision dazzled, she felt herself tear through the dimensional wall, the scent of burnt paper and a fainter one of mint clung to the slender body she was pressed against. They ran on through the darkness oppressive against her lids, the edges of her cloak flapped against her legs, the air stinging whipped beneath it, tearing at her flimsy skirt.

She hated the lack of answers, his most of all. His unnerving silences, the stares of his vivid green eyes. She had noticed his oddity of watching her closely, examining every move she made, any action as simple as brushing the stubborn bang from between her eyes to paying close attention to her words. She wasn't sure if it was lack of contact with _living humans_ that served to fuel his curiosity ...or something else she dared not think for the notion of it was ridiculous. Another part of her said it unimportant now, in the scheme of things...they were both going to become the hunted.

_If_ she let herself think too deeply on it, she would remember that death incarnate carried her .. and that all comprehension by mortals of the divine were null. Heaven was not the paradise proclaimed it was by worldly praise...from as little she saw of it, it was a rigid feudalist society. One that she had little care to enter when she died. With that last thought settling coldly in the pit of her stomach, she dared to curl her numb arm up - around his collar, bowing her head in the crook of his neck. They were flying now, the intermittent flap of wings broken every few seconds by Grimmjow's mutters of book titles lost - followed by a string of colorful curses.

Rukia prayed her nii-sama would forget she ever existed.

-TBC

AN: This fic intertwines the story of Creation with the mythological Pandora ^^ when I was much younger I always enjoyed the old Norse tales/Roman myths/Greek myths, so it's kind of been a dream of mine to combine angelic elements with ancient myth. I apologize about the long period of no updating, RL's been a pain. ^^ hope you enjoyed! Also, happy new year! :D

No flames!

Reviews loved :~)


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